Ben's Fault
by VyeBernanke
Summary: A sequel to 'Little Sis' Megin has been living at home, Kevin has had his accident, and she is holding Ben responsible, and thus HATES him. But then Kevin and Gwen are kidnapped and she must work with Ben to save them. Which, ya know, SUCKS!
1. Chapter 1

Ben's Fault

Chapter 1

_Megin Levin's POV _

"_WAKIE WAKIE_!!" Kevin's voice filled my ear and jolted me awake. I threw my arm out in the direction of his voice, my hand hitting his head. Normally, this wouldn't have hurt, and my fingers would have met soft hair. (Or greasy, depending on the day.)

But Kevin wasn't normal. He hadn't ever _really_ been normal, what with his ability to absorb energy and matter, but at least he had still _looked_ human. Now, my big brother had been mutated and my hand hit his crystal-kagonite (?) head, jamming up my fingers.

"Ow, ow, ow, ow, ow, _OW!_" I cried out and sat up. _"KEVIN!!"_ I glared into his rock-featured face and asked, "What is your problem? It's _Saturday, dammit!"_

He laughed and grinned down at me, way too chipper at this time of morning. He messed with his I.D. mask, and then put it on, immediately looking the way he had before Ben had burned the Omnitrix into overload. My heart gave a little pang at how familiar it looked, and then the also familiar fury at Ben began to burn inside my chest.

"What do you need Kevin, I can't even believe _you're_ up at this hour!" I said, flopping back down and burrowing into my comforter.

"Megin, it's ten a.m.!"

"Exactly my point!" I said, popping up, and then retreating back. "Tell me what you want before I kick your sorry butt into Wednesday." My voice was muffled by my blanket.

"Alright, we have some plumber business to take care of, and we might need some backup. A lot of nasties to put down, and could_ maybe_ be a challenge." He grinned ruefully at me, "And afterwards we're doing some training. Gwen says it's about time for your next karate class." My head appeared above the covers again.

"When you say we…?" I trailed off questioningly, knowing were this was going.

Kevin knew too.

"Oh, just me, Gwen…and Ben too."

"I'm not going." I said flatly, and hid once again. But that was a mistake because Kevin started tickling me. "_Hey! _No fair!!" I cried out between gales of laughter. I was extremely ticklish, a trait Kev had luckily avoided from our mother.

"Oh, come _on_ Meggie!! It's been months now, you need to stop being angry at Ben! Even_ I_ wasn't mad at him for _this_ long!" He finally stopped and pulled down my covers, his face close to mine. "That should tell you something."

"Yeah, that you're a weak grudge-holder." I replied. Kevin gave up.

"Fine, if you change your mind, we should be done about noon. Here's the address." He tossed a scrap of paper on my bedside table and left with that. I threw my blanket off. And snatched the paper off my desk, scanning it and recognizing the area, I immediately knew that it was crawling with DNAliens.

I would go. But just for Kevin and maybe Gwen too, because she was turning out to be a lot cooler than her first impression. But I _would not_ go to see Ben, in fact! I would just ignore him. Wouldn't even look at him. Exactly. That was it.

I yanked on my green shorts and black tank, and then laced up my most pain-inflicting combat boots. I knew because Kevin had told me so, shortly after he had found me. I smirked a little at the memory as I grabbed my jacket and hollered at Mom.

"Bye Mom, I'm going to make sure Kevin doesn't kill himself!"

"Be back by dinner." She replied without missing a beat.

I jumped on my bike and pedaled as fast as I could, but not before grabbing some juice from a near outlet. Supercharged, I traveled faster than normal, and reached my destination in a short time, just in time to see an especially ugly alien rear up behind Ben, who was completely oblivious as Cannon Ball.

Without thinking, I launched myself off my bike and threw a flying-side-kick at the ugly's head. I landed with my foot implanted in its face as all three of them, Ben, Gwen, and Kevin, turned to stare at me.

"What?" I asked defensively, "Kevin told you was coming, right?" and when they still didn't move, I almost screamed, "_WHAT?! Why are you standing around, they're going to kill you?!"_

Well, that worked.

As if out of a trance, they began fighting again.

And apparently I had knocked out some nasty's great-uncle or something, 'cause one of them came at me, screeching its disgusting head off. Or maybe it was just pissed. Either way, I threw it off course by…ya know, throwing it.

We carried on like that for almost an hour, hitting, ducking, kicking, (and I may or may not have 'accidentally' hit Ben a couple of times) until none were left standing, and the cargo they had attempted to transport was unguarded.

I frantically whipped my head around, looking for something else to hit, my temper not exactly burned out yet. I finally gave up when Kevin came over and said,

"They aren't gonna come out of thin air Megin." I pouted at him.

"You sure? There could be some hiding over…" I stopped as he shook his head. I hung mine. Gwen came and joined us.

"It's okay," she said, "We're going sparring, so you can hit more things." I brightened a little at that. I cast a glance at Ben and asked,

"What is he doing?" I made sure to add a hint of venom in my question.

"Beaming over the stolen goods." Gwen replied, completely understanding my hatred, though she didn't like it. I mean, Kevin was her boyfriend, so she had every right to be as angry as I was. But were she couldn't understand how I couldn't let it go, I didn't understand how any of them could let it go. My brother looked like some monster!

And it was Ben's fault.


	2. Chapter 2

_Megin Levin's POV _

Chapter 2

Before I could go off again, I saw Kevin catch Gwen's eye. Seeing what would obviously happen in the next few minutes, I backed off, giving them some privacy. Though I regretted it as Ben came over to me, and part of me thought that maybe watching Kevin make out with his girlfriend wasn't such a bad idea.

I quickly crouched down and became very interested in my shoelace when he got to me.

"Hey, Megin." He said, sitting on the ground next to me. I shook my hair out of my eyes in response. "I didn't think you were coming." he said, once more not getting more than a shrug. "But thanks though, if you hadn't come along when you did, I'd be alien bait."

"Kevin said there would be a lot of aliens, and I needed some sparring practice." I muttered. Ben sighed.

"Look, Meg-" he started but was cut off by someone else calling him.

"Ben!" Julie Yamamoto called from ten yards away. She came up, flouncing in her tight, white, _extra-short_, tennis skirt, and she threw her arms around him. I had to turn away, thankful that I had skipped out on breakfast.

Julie. How could I describe Julie? Girls like her were partly why I hated coming back to school. I mean, maybe she was sweet, I guess. The kind of sweet that made your teeth itch. She was _always _around, coming to a fight then being completely useless, hanging off Ben…

I didn't like Julie. That was all to be said.

"Uh, hey Julie, you okay?" Ben asked, carefully pulling her arms from there death-hold on his neck.

"Yeah, I'm fine now. That was amazing!" I could practically quote her every word, sense she said that _same damn thing_ every time we won. I swear to God she would say it was _so amazing! _if he blew his nose. They were perfect together though, I guess. Ben was such an ego maniac and Julie stroked and fed his ego like a fat cat. Ugh, they disgusted me.

_"Kevin!"_ I yelled over my shoulder. I looked back just in time to see his and Gwen pull away from each other. God, I was surrounded my hormone-driven teenagers!

"Are we done here?" I snapped at him, striding back over to them, not able to get far enough from Ben and Julie. Kevin laughed a little, apparently still euphoric from his little go-round with Gwen.

"Put the claws away Meggie, we're going. Anyway, don't get frustrated with me when you're just jealous."

My hand twitched a little and he jumped as a spark flew out of my finger tips to the middle of his nose.

"Okay, okay!" He said, backing off. Gwen gave him a look, and came up to me.

"Come on, you can burn off your steam at training. Then maybe some meditating?" I nodded, trying to get a hold on myself. I couldn't let Ben get me so riled up. But he was _just so damn—_

I cut off my own thought before any more frustrated tension could build in my body. "Right, let's go. _Please_." They nodded and we piled into Kevin's am-_ma_-zing car. I inhaled the sweet car scent deeply, and calmed down like, fifty percent.

I loved this car. _So much_.

I looked out the window and saw Ben and Julie say an oh-so-tearful goodbye (that's sarcasm for you innocent ones), and Julie looked a little pissed off, pounding her small fist uselessly on Ben's chest.

"Ooh, trouble in paradise?" I asked, to no one in particular.

"Yeah, Ben says she's been getting a little clingy." Gwen said from the front seat. Kevin smirked over his shoulder.

"Not that you care though, right?" I gave him a death glare as Ben climbed in beside me. Thankfully, it was a roomy backseat, so I could scoot as far away from him as possible. When I did so, he just sighed tiredly and left it alone.

Sure, for awhile after I came home, I liked Ben. A lot. Yes, in _that way_. And we were really good friends, and we hung out all the time. But that was before he deformed my brother, and then, to top it off, he didn't even have the decency to feel bad about it! And now, I didn't see anything in him. Not his soft dark brown hair, not the slight bulge of his muscles when he tensed up, ready to fight, not the graceful angle of his nose, and not, definitely not, his deep, deep, soul-searching, beautiful, emerald green eyes…

Nope. Not a thing did I see.

We soon arrived at the plumbers' headquarters, but it looked like an old car garage. After a series of secret hallways and elevators, we were soon in the training center.

Minutes later, Gwen and I came out of the locker room, me in a black spandex tank top and dark green short-shorts, her in the same top (but in white) and blue Capri sweat-pants. The guys were in another part of the gym, sparring, and Kevin winning.

"C'mon Ben, you can do—" Kev was cut off as Ben caught him under the chin.

Gwen turned and faced me.

"Okay, I know you're really pent up right now, and that's good fuel for fighting, but you _can't_ let it control you. You have to channel your anger, balance it, and then focus it." She instructed, and then we began. It was easy once I began to visualize every punching bag and wooden board as Ben's face. But then, out of nowhere, Gwen simply reached out and knocked me off balance. I toppled over, landing squarely on my butt. She looked down to me, raising her eyebrow. "Guess who wasn't focused?" I closed my eyes and sighed.

"Sorry." She rolled her eyes.

"Come on, let's spar." I nodded and grabbed my black boxing gloves. Somewhere in the back of the room, Kevin and Ben were still at it. I ignored them, concentrating on Gwen. I was in total survival mode, and nothing could stop me until I won. Suddenly, my back hit Ben's, and before I knew it, I was fighting with him.

I ducked, I blocked, and best of all, I kicked. _Hard_.

At first, it was pretty evenly matched. We would both get a few good hits in, but it was mostly blocking, until all of my fury at Ben boiled under my skin, making my hands and legs move faster, and I started to force him back, turning him on the defense. I hated this boy. This boy hurt my older brother, the one person I counted on the most. He hurt me, and he was arrogant, and snobby, and cynical, and worst of all he _didn't care!_ I swept my leg under his and knocked him to the ground. Coming up in one movement, I placed a knee on his chest, my left hand on his throat, and my right hand coiled back, ready to spring. I paused, realizing that my cheeks were wet. I had been crying. Instead of throwing the right hook like I had meant to, I froze, my arm still in the air. I stared into Ben's eyes, who apprehensive and cautious, and then his expression softened and he just looked at me like I was at him.

I don't know how long we stayed like that, but then I became faintly aware that Kevin and Gwen were still in there with us. I shook my head, trying to shed the fog that had suddenly clouded my mind. I realized that the muscles in my arm was beginning to cramp from being tensed too long. I loosened my fist, slapped Ben so hard it snapped his head to the side, and then got up and ran out of the gym.


	3. Chapter 3

_Megin Levin's POV _

Chapter 3

I slammed my locker shut, but my anger was spent, and I actually felt exhausted. I just wanted to go home and relax.

But apparently the universe had other plans for me.

I didn't get two feet out of the door before I ran into Ben. Despite my attempts to just slide around him, he made it obvious that I wasn't going anywhere by sticking his arm in my path. I briefly considered breaking it, then let out a sharp breath and said,

"If you're expecting an apology for what happened, you're gonna be here for a long—"

"I don't expect you to apologize. I just want you to listen." He said, stopping me before I could finish. I blinked a little at that.

"Yeah, well, I'm not in the mood." I ducked under his arm and walked past him. But then I paused for a minute. What if he wanted to say sorry for what he had done to Kevin? I realized that I wasn't so mad at him for doing it, but for showing no remorse, no sign at all showing that he wanted to fix it. I mean, he _was_ supposed to be a hero after all. I turned around.

"What exactly did you want to say to me?" Ben got a look of relief on his face and opened his mouth and—

Was cut off by a choked scream, coming from just outside. We both rushed out to find Kevin and Gwen locked in battle with more DNAliens. Dear God, where did they _come_ from?

I was about to jump the one on Kevin when another pointed a stun-gun at me, and everything got dark.

When I woke up, it was nighttime, and I was on the cold asphalt where I had passed out. I quickly sat up, then instantly regretted it as my head felt like a ton of bricks fell on it. I'm ashamed to say that it hurt so much that I groaned. I put a hand to my temple and looked around. I could see a shape that looked like Ben in the dim light. I tried standing, failed, and just crawled over to him. He wasn't far. He was facedown, unconscious, so I rolled him over, putting my hands on either side of his head, checking for a concussion. There didn't seem to be any, so I roused him in a caring, and gentle manner.

"_BEN!_ Wake up, c'mon!" he was coming to as I shook him, and noticed a small sheath of paper next to him. In spiky handwriting was scrawled,

PLUMBERS

WE HAVE YOUR TEAMATES

DO NOT INTERFERE WITH OUR DEALINGS ANY LONGER, AND WE WILL KEEP THEM ALIVE. DO NOT ATTEMPT TO RETRIEVE THEM. ANY SIGNS OF RESCUE WILL RESULT IN THEIR DEATH.

-DNALIENS

I began to hyperventilate. They had them, Kevin and Gwen, they were gone. I tried to get hold of myself. _Calm down Megin, calm _down_! What would Kevin do if you were gone? He'd go save your ass!_

"Meg?" Ben said. Ben. I had forgotten all about him. "What happened? Where are Kevin and Gwen? Megin what happened?" I knew he was panicking when he began to repeat himself. Not completely calm yet myself, I silently handed him the note. He read it and we sat in silence for a minute.

When I was sure that my voice wouldn't break, I spoke. "Come on. Let's go." I got up, wobbled a bit, but refused to go down. Ben looked at me bewilderedly.

"Go? Go where?" I looked at him like he was mental.

"Where do you think? We have to go get them. I don't know about you, but I'm not about to let some nasty alien hold my brother hostage. And I strangely like Gwen, so what the hell, she's a bonus." Ben nodded.

"But how do we find them? Gwen's usually our tracker." He slowly got up too, but fell. I tried not to laugh as I helped him. When he was up we were kinda close, like in those movies where the heroine and the love interest are just playing around, then suddenly realize their attraction for each other, and she's close to him, definitely within kissing proximity and he smells _really good_…

But just like in the movie, I remembered my responsibilities (not to mention the fact that I hate Ben) and stepped away. I caught a disappointed look in his eye before he awkwardly turned away. What did he have to be disappointed about? I mean I know that I'm no dog, but c'mon, he had a girlfriend anyway…

I shook my head to clear it, and replied to his unanswered question.

"I put I tracker in Kevin's cell. Wherever he is, I know." Ben looked at me funny. "What?" I asked defensively.

"Obsessive much?"

"I like to call it fiercely protective." I said, then reached into my pocket, pulling out my handy-dandy locater. The signal was a bit fuzzy, but towards the north-east direction from here. "They're probably underground, the picture is weak. Uptown though. Now all we need is transportation…" I trailed off, instantly thinking of the car. I ran as fast a could to the parking lot, where it thankfully was still parked.

Ben caught up with me and said, "Okay, but Kevin would _never_ just leave his keys in the ignition." I raised an eyebrow at him.

"I've been a gangbanger for the past six years. You insult me by implying that I wouldn't know how to hotwire a car."

Ben began to gape at me in a 'you-can't-be-serious' way. I grinned.


	4. Chapter 4

_Megin Levin's POV _  
Chapter 4

"Jeez Megin, slow down ya freakin' psycho! You almost hit that semi-truck!" Ben exclaimed from the passenger seat. "I'm pretty sure Gwen and Kevin aren't going anywhere." I just rolled my eyes and swerved into the next lane over. Ben didn't know it, but I was having the time of my life driving this car. I had been aching to ever since I had seen it, but Kevin had been so freakin' protective of it! Don't think that I wasn't being careful though; I was making sure that this beautiful machine didn't get one single scratch. But it was hard to think of much else other than the raw horsepower under my foot as I pressed down on the gas. I longed to flip the accelerator switch, or push any of the various buttons that activated the plumber battle gear that Kevin had installed, but figured he would kill me if I burned anything out.

So I just sighed wistfully and asked, "What's the turnoff?" Ben glanced down at the tracker he had been manned with.

"Just here," he said, pointing. I coasted over to the shoulder of the road, put the cloakers on, and turned the car off. Ben gave me a quizzical look.

"Why are we stopping? The tunnel's down there." He pointed once again. I rolled my eyes.

"You're stupider than I thought if you think I'm taking this baby into a horde of DNA uglies. We're walking from here." I hopped out, and he had no choice but to follow me.

Once we were down, we began feeling up the damp walls. Not even DNAliens were dumb enough to build a tunnel directly to their lair. There had to be a secret door. And there was, except that there was some kind of pattern you had to tap on the stones, which would, of course, take hours to decipher.

Right.

Or I could just absorb some stone beat the door in.

Whichever was more convenient.

Anyway, the door led to a labyrinth of hallways and vents. Damn these things were paranoid. The screen on my tracker was getting fuzzier and fuzzier as we got deeper underground, but I could still make out which way to go at every fork in the road and every vent we had to squeeze into. It was tedious work, and hard to do in the growing darkness. But I just kept thinking of Kevin, and how much the DNAlien who was in charge was going to learn about pain when I got my hands on him. But knowing Kevin, there probably wouldn't be much left of him.

_Switching over to Kevin's POV. YAY we love Kevin! _

I thrashed once again against the chains holding my wrists and ankles, but to no avail.

"Kevin, if it didn't work before, why would it now?" Gwen— to my left— said. For once the fugly aliens weren't completely stupid, and had put in a zero point energy box. Level 5 tech at least. Which means she couldn't bust us out of here. I was in similar cuffs, chained against the wall. Which is, let me tell you, just as uncomfortable as they make it look in the movies. We had been blindfolded and tied up, carried through a lot of hallways, and then roughly put into our holding cells.

"Well what are we supposed to do? Just let them keep us hostage so the plumbers won't mess with them anymore?" I finished my sentence with another violent thrash, but I also winced at the anger in my voice. It wasn't fair to yell at Gwen. I was mostly angry for letting the aliens capture me or, more importantly, her. "I'm sorry. Sorry I let them get you. I screwed up. I—" I heard her chuckle a little bit from her cell.

"Kevin?" she said.

"Yeah?"

"Shut up." I smiled a bit to myself. I love her. I was about to say something more, but something heavy fell out of my pocket. It was my phone. All my twisting had pried it from my jeans. When it landed on the floor, it split into a few pieces. I was about to curse it when I saw a small silver piece that didn't belong there. I knew immediately what it was. A tracker.

"Kev? What was that?" I barely heard her. "Kevin! What's wrong?" she asked again.

"Don't get comfortable, Gwen. Ben and Megin are coming for us." I said, but quietly, so the fuglies wouldn't hear.

"What? Are they crazy? It's way too dangerous!"

"Yeah, and what's worse?" I replied, unable to not imagine the worst.

"What?"

"Megin is most likely driving my car."


	5. Chapter 5

_Megin Levin's POV _

Chapter 5

We had finally squeezed through the last of the vents, and were on top of a catwalk, overlooking a huge warehouse, bustling with DNAliens. I looked on them with disgust.

"Why are they still _here_? Didn't we beat their sorry asses and send them scuttling back to whatever pit they came from?" I asked Ben, who was creeping along beside me. He nodded.

"Yeah we did, but after the dust cleared there was a lot of high-tech merchandise to be found in the debris. A few of the aliens saw a profit, and they stayed around to work the black market. Nothing like the world domination they were after before, but still illegal" He finished. I nodded, and we kept on moving.

It wasn't until we were far away from the main loading dock and in some wide, empty corridors I asked him,

"So, what were you going to say to me? You know, back at the training center?" I asked. What? I know I hate the guy, but I'm curious. I mean, this could be the long awaited apology I had been waiting for. So sue me for wanting to know what he was going to say next.

A small smile crossed his lips.

"Um, well I," he looked a little nervous. Despite myself, I found myself thinking it extremely adorable. There must be something wrong with me.

"Spit it out." I said. I was getting a little impatient, aside from the adorable thing.

He took a deep breath and said, "I broke up with Julie."

I stopped dead in my tracks. What the hell? _Julie? _What did she have to do with it?

"Julie? Why would you want to tell me that?" What was he thinking?

Ben looked confused. He wasn't the only one. "I thought that was why you've been mad at me. You know, for the past couple of months. For dating Julie." He said.

I blinked once. Twice. Then it set in.

"You thought I was _jealous?_" I said, my voice rising uncomfortably. What was his damage? Why that egotistical—

"Well, yeah, because when you got here you sorta, y'know, sending signals—" chauvinistic, pig-headed, idiotic— "and then you got angry and stopped hanging out with me awhile after you found out I was dating Julie—" Y-chromosome, impertinent, assuming _bastard!_ "So I broke up with her, because I realized that she really isn't who I thought she was, and I miss—"

"Shut up." I turned and began walking down the corridor.

"But I was going to say—" he started, but I wasn't hearing it.

"And I said shut up."

"But I—"

"Wow, you just don't shut up do you?" I couldn't believe it. He thought this whole thing had been about something as cavalier as _jealousy_. What a-a-a….well I couldn't really think of anything else to call him. Maybe a douche, but that just sounded too weak. Who did he think I was? I had felt exactly _nothing_ when I found out he was dating Julie. Less than nothing. I honestly _could not_ care when I had met her for the first time and she just came right over and placed her stupid, fakey, pink lips on his perfect ones, without so much as a _'Hello'_ or _' Excuse me' _in my direction. The way she kept holding onto his hand like she owned it. Or the way she expected _all_ of his attention _all_ the time.

I was _not_ jealous. I _wasn't_.

We walked in silence for awhile. We were getting very close, when Ben brought it up again.

"So, what _have_ you been mad about then? I was sure you were pretty green with envy" he asked from behind me. I whirled around him.

"Oh my God, you think so much of yourself! As if there is anything to be jealous _of_! It's not like I thought you were my boyfriend or anything!" I just wanted to find Kevin and get out of here. I never even wanted him to come. His eyes narrowed and he glared at me.

"Well what then? It has to be something or you wouldn't hold on to it for so long. Or maybe you just been stuck in a pissed off mood ever since you've had people to tell you what to do!" he spat back at me. God, I wanted to hit him so bad.

"You are so _dense_! And I thought you knew! It's Kevin! You know, my brother? The one you mutilated?" I was all up in his face now and spitting angry.

"Wh—" Confusion, then realization, passed over his face. "_That's _what you've been so mad at me? That wasn't my fault! The Omnitrix freaked out!"

"Because _you_ were messing with it! You couldn't just do anything the hard way, you just had to find a shortcut, and now Kevin has to suffer for it! And you haven't even apologized! _You _should be like that, not Kev—" I stopped as I was suddenly aware of how close we had gotten. Practically nose to nose. Probably impossible to get physically any closer. Ben realized it to, because his face went from twisted with anger, to smooth with apprehension and caution. My heart was beating double-time, my breath short and rapid, and I found I was losing myself in his eyes. Eyes where I saw, for the very first time, regret. Real regret.

"I'm sorry." He merely whispered. I was scrambling for words when he slid his hand around the back of my neck, pulled me even closer (it turns out it was possible) and kissed me. Simple as that. He just…kissed me. And it was like fireworks exploding in my head, a balloon swelling in my chest, butterflies going crazy in my stomach. I felt warm were his hands touched on my neck and waist, and everywhere else inside. His lips where exactly as soft and perfect as they looked, and he seemed to be very talented with his toungue. My heart went even faster than it had two minutes ago when we had just been arguing.

Oh yeah. Arguing. What had that been about again? It was kinda hard to remember...

Kevin.

That snapped me out of my fireworks/balloon/butterflies sensation. My eyes snapped open and I found that in the heat of the moment I had tangled my fingers in his soft, silky brown curls, and was kissing him back. Enthusiastically. This was both good and bad. Bad because I found out that I have absolutely no self-control. Good because I was able to leverage my position and dig my knee into his stomach.

While he was doubled over for a minute, I took it to catch my breath and say,

"Say that to Kevin." And I quickly turned and walked away, without seeing if he was following me.

Farther down the hall, I heard voices. I had to check really quick that I wasn't going crazy from Ben's kiss (yes, it was that good). But no, I distinctly heard a voice that could only be my brother's. I ran towards it, but as soon as I got close, I fell.


	6. Chapter 6

_Megin Levin's POV __J_

Chapter 6

I yelped as the ground suddenly disappeared underneath me. Then it got dark. I felt the incredibly uncomfortable feeling of falling, and then I was being dropped on my butt. My teeth clicked together and I was lucky I didn't take a chunk of my tongue. Before I could get my bearings something heavy, goopy, and _stinking _was thrown on me, instantly hardening and holding me to where I was. I instinctively tried to jerk away from it, only succeeding in hitting my head on a cold concrete wall. Ouch.

"Oh, that's just _perfect_." A familiar male voice said to my left. Kevin. I looked over and saw him held against the same wall with Level 6 tech. Where had they gotten _that_? He didn't look too beat up, just tired and extremely pissed off, in the same grease monkey T-shirt and jeans he always had on, courtesy of his I.D. mask. I was surprised that they hadn't taken it from him.

"Wha' happen?" I was disoriented from my fall and the smell was making my eyes water. _God_ it smelled like something ate crap then vomited it up. I think some of it got in my hair.

"Another plumber!" a voice that sounded like it seriously needed to hawk a lugi said. I looked toward it, and 'it' turned out to be a DNAlien. Wow, I was amazing at this rescuing stuff. Not. "Well you were stupid to come here alone! Now we have _three_ plumbers!" It let out a mucus-y laugh.

"I'm surprised that you can count that high. Next you'll be reading. I'm so proud of you!" I said. That stopped its laughter pretty quick. It came over to where I was pinned in an incredibly awkward yoga position with my knees, and hit me. I gotta say it hurt, and my vision got blurry for a minute.

"Nice," I forced out when my jaw would cooperate. "Hitting a defenseless fourteen-year-old girl that's glued to a wall. We really _are_ big and bad today, aren't we?" It snarled at me and left with another gross vomit-thing on my chest, right at the bottom of my neck, so I couldn't breathe with out smelling the oozy warmth. "Oh nasty." I choked out.

"Oh jeez, Megin, _why_ are you here?" Kevin asked from my left. I turned my head to scowl at him.

"What does it _look_ like genius? I was trying to rescue you and your girlfriend." He rolled his eyes.

"Can I just say you're doing an amazing job?"

"Shut up."

"Is Ben here too?" This time it was Gwen, from the other side of the wall. I listened for aliens quickly and then said yes.

"Yeah, I lost him on my way down." I tried breathing through my mouth, but that only filled my mouth with disgustingly warm air. I wanted to throw up myself.

"Nothing to do but wait and see if he finds us." Kevin said. I was jealous of his nice, clean, _non_- disgusting, high-tech holdings. Guh…

****

What felt like forever later, we heard a commotion down the hall. Well, not really, it just sounded like a lot of gross phlegmy talking and then a fight. An alien came to our cells, a flash of green light, and then it was Ben. Gwen came in after he opened our doors carefully releasing Kevin, then me. I probably wouldn't be able to wear these clothes _ever_ again.

"Come on, someone's bound to come check on us." Gwen urged and we began to run down hallways.

"How did you guys get here?" Kevin asked. "We can use the same tunnel to get out."

"No we can't. We used the tracker in your cell to get down here, but now that you're with us it'll do us no good." I said.

"So how do we get out?" He asked. Ben looked at Gwen.

"Do you think you could retrace the mana trial we left on our way down?" he asked. Gwen nodded.

"Just come here. It might be a little hard to see your different trails so just hold onto each other." My eyes widened a little at that.

"Um, you sure we have to? Can't you just follow _his _trail?" All I could think about was our kiss. I _definately _didn't want to touch him right now, feeling a blush creep up my cheeks.

Kevin rolled his eyes. "C'mon Meg, he doesn't have cooties."

Gwen nodded. "There are, like, a million trails here. The signal will be stronger and we'll get out faster if I can follow one reinforced trail." I gave a little grumble but obediently took Ben's hand. He looked almost as uncomfortable as I did as he hooked his fingers through mine. Gwen put her hands on our shoulders and the strangest thing happened. I suddenly _felt_ Ben. Not just with my hand, but with my _mind_, like we were linked. It was insane, the intimacy of it. There was no way I could hide anything from him right now, and the same with him. I could so easily pluck information from his brain like I was picking cherries.

_Megin?_ I flinched as his voice in my head called my name. _What happened? _he asked.

_How am I supposed to know? She's _your_ cousin. _I thought. Jeez, he didn't get it? Gwen was using our mana trail and that turned out in us being temporarily psycically linked (and they say that I didn't learn anything from Buffy the Vampire Slayer). Ugh, he was such a simple-minded-

_Hey, I can _hear_ you! _He thought.

_Quit picking around in my head! _

_ What else am I supposed to do? You're not talking to me._

_ I didn't hear an apology towards Kevin so, yeah, I'm not talking to you. _I felt him sigh mentally. This was getting old fast, and it was just _creepy_. I didn't like it when his tongue was on my mind, and now his actual _mind_ was on my, um, mind.

_Oh, so my exceptional kissing skills are on your brain?_

_ Stop that! And apologize!_

_ Just as long as it doesn't include all of the perks my apology to you did. _

_ Ew, that's just weird._

_ Don't act like you didn't love it. We both know you did._

_ Oh please, you liked it so much more. You were wanting to do that for a long time! I know your head, remember? _ I wasn't lying. that's really what was in his head. He had liked me for a long time now, even when he was with Julie. It was all right here, why he liked me and the way he saw me...

_Stop that!! _Ben's mental voice shouted.

_I can't help it! You think so loud! But...is all of that true? Like, how you like my powers? And-_

Suddenly the connection was cut off. Like, literally, ripped away. It was a little disconcerting, like wearing hoop earrings, and then someone tears it out.

Ouch.

My eyes snapped open, and we were surrounded by aliens. We had also moved, really close to were we had come in, and now we were swarmed with Uglies. Nasty.

We immeadiately spead out working like a machine. I dropped to the floor and absorbed the concrete, using my position to trip up three aliens on their merry way toward me. I sprung up and threw my leg out to another, feeling like I broke it's jaw. Something grabbed my arm and pulled, _hard_. I turned and punched...Kevin. Whoops.

"Ah! God, Megin, calm _down!_" He tugged at my arm, pulling me toward the door.

"Where is Ben and Gwen?"

"They already got out, now let's _go!_" There was just one problem. _There were freaking DNAliens on all sides!_ "Great." he muttered. He reshaped his hands into a hammer and a mace. "Cover my back, I'll clear us a path." and he had at it. I trailed after him, kncoking away anything that tried to jump him. We finally got to the door when something else grabbed me from behind. Then another, then another, and then I was held on all sides. Thrashed and hit, and I'm pretty sure I crushed a few faces, but for every single one that I made let go of me, two more grabbed on. I don't scream often, but when I do I really let it out.

"Kevin! Kevin!" I kept calling, but all I could see was disgusting yellow, liver-spotted skin. A space above me cleared, and I felt a shock relief. But it turned out, they were about to place one of those weird, octopus-like, alien infectors.

The ones that made humans into DNAliens. I screamed louder.

"Kevin! Oh God, Kevin, help me! _Ben! God, Ben help-_"

"Shut up insignifigant girl!" One of them covered my mouth with a putird smelling hand. I sqeezed my eyes shut and hoped to God it wouldn't hurt...

There was a flash of green light behind my eyelids, a burst of heat, then all of the hands holding me roughly fell away, and were replaced with strong arms and a strong smell of sulfer. I opened my eyes to look up at Swampfire. Then my adreneline ran dry, and I blacked out.


	7. Chapter 7

_Megin Levin's POV _

Chapter 7

When I came to, the sulfer smell was gone and I was in the backseat of Kevin's car. How did I know? The faint smell of car gas and his cologne. My head was also in Ben's lap. Awkward. I sat up too quickly and fell back down with a massive headache. Fabulous.

"Ugh, what happened?" I mumbled. Ben chuckled.

"Shh, it's okay now. Just rest a little." But I wasn't having any of that.

"Kevin? Gwen?"

"They are both fine. So go to sleep." I grumbled.

"I don't want to." He gave me a severe look.

"Don't be stubborn."

"Don't be bossy." I retorted in a weak voice that infuriated me. Or, it would've if I wasn't so tired. Maybe I'd just take a little nap, and then I'd argue with Ben. Still, mumbling a bit, I closed my eyes.

*****

I woke up in the Plumber Headquarters Infermary, and in an incredibly uncomfortable bed. I groaned and sat up slowly.

"Easy there." a familiar voice said. I looked over towards Kevin sitting beside me. He didn't have his I.D. mask on. I grimaced and felt the usual flare of the painful reminder. Kevin recognized the look and rolled his eyes. "Meg, you really need to get over this. It happened, okay? Accept it."

"That's not fair." I said. "You know that's not it!" He sighed.

"Yeah, I know. I also know that, well, you, um-" he looked extremely uncomfortable about what he was trying to say. "I know, um, how you feel about Ben, and-" My cheeks flamed red all the way to my ears. Kevin was _not_ talking to me about relationships. Especially my relationship with _Ben_. Well, you know, if there even _was_ a relationship there... "And you know I'd hate to get in the way of that. Especially after he said what he did. But-"

"Wait, what did he say?" I asked, confused. What did he say? Kevin stopped, still looking very uncomfortable.

"Uh, he apologized to me. Yeah, took me by surprise too. I mean, he's such a concieted guy, I never expected him to feel bad for," He gestured to all of him, "Well, this."

"Wow. Really?" I said, and he nodded. "That's really...not like Ben."

"Hehe, I know. But I really don't want you to miss out on something like I have with Gwen, just because of a silly grudge." I smiled.

"Thanks Kev." He patted my knee and stood up. He wasn't really good with extreme gooey displays of affection. I got it, I was the same way. It was one of the many reasons why Julie sickened me.

I lay back and thought for a bit. So Ben actually apologized? That's insane but, oddly believable. When I was there, in his head, I saw something. Or, more of some_one_. Not the arrogant boy that I'd seen since he had 'Saved the Entire Universe' and turned into the biggest jerk in-

No, I saw the guy that I liked. He was kind and brave and humble (or at least more than he is now) and just _good_ and well, he was a hero. Maybe he was still-

"Hey." Ben said from the doorway.

"Speak of the devil." I said, then smiled a bit. "Hey."

"So..." He trailed off awkwardly and came in. He took a seat across the room. It was a small room, so it wasn't saying much, but still.

"So...I cannot believe you told my older brother that you kissed me." It wasn't the classic icebreaker, but it got the job done. His ears turned red with embarrassment. I grinned.

"I did not tell him that! At least not directly." He didn't seem able to look at me. Haha. "I just told him I really liked you. And I'd do anything to make things right with you. And him."

"Really?"

"Yeah, it was embarrassing as hell. But, if it made you okay with me..." He trailed off again. I stood up and walked over to him. He immeadiately stood up.

"Ben, I know that you're an amazing guy. I've seen it in you," I touched his chest lightly, right were his heart was, "And I know that under all of the jerky, cocky bravado, that you're a hero. And what girl wouldn't fall for a hero like you?" I felt a rapid fluttering under my hand as his eyes met mine. My heart wasn't so steady itself. He smiled a bit uncertainly. "Uh, by the way, did I thank you for saving my life?"

"No, I don't think you did." I smiled and moved my hand from his chest to the back of his head, tangling it in his soft hair, and pulling him toward me, and meeting my lips with his. I tilted my head up a bit, and he was completely accomodating, pulling me closer and putting his arms around my waist. I hadn't thought it possible, but this kiss was _definately_ better than the last, needless to say because it didn't end with my knee in his gut. I pulled away a bit, giggling and breathless.

"You know you can't break my heart now." He grinned, just as giddy.

"Unless I want Kevin to break my neck."

"Don't worry. I think I'll keep you around for awhile." He decided that was enough talking and pulled me back.

It was my all means, _fine_ with me.


End file.
